How Karpov Wins: Second, Enlarged Edition (Dover Chess) [Paperback]

Edmar Mednis (Author)

Book Description

Series: Dover Chess | Publication Date: November 2, 2011

Newly revised, enlarged edition of first book on great Russian chess master focuses on the tactics, strategy and even psychological approaches employed by Karpov in winning against Bronstein, Smyslov, Browne, Gligoric, Spassky, Korchnoi and other greats. 100 games analyzed simply and clearly, showing exactly how Karpov won. Over 300 chess diagrams.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications; 2 Enlarged edition (November 2, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486278816
• ISBN-13: 978-0486278810
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #638,813 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Breaks down the elements of Karpov's style., February 21, 2000

By 

Robert Irons (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Karpov Wins: Second, Enlarged Edition (Dover Chess) (Paperback)

I'm a mixed fan of Mednis (I don't like his repertoire books, like "From the opening to the endgame," but his endgame books are superb), but this is an exceptional book. He breaks down the elements of Karpov's style both statistically and analytically, and does a good job of showing Karpov's approach to the game. Karpov's style may not appeal to everyone (not terribly exciting), but he always plays to win and is notoriously difficult to beat. Mednis shows the openings he plays, the middlegames he prefers, and his preference for clear endgames over advantageous middlegames. Most useful for ELO 1600+ players.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great book!!, June 14, 2002

By 

JIMMY SANDBERG "bookman" (Sweden) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How Karpov Wins: Second, Enlarged Edition (Dover Chess) (Paperback)

This book is a must have for EVERY chessplayer.This book is very instructive.You will learn a lot from this book about chess strategy and positional play.The author Edmar Mednis once a strong chessplayer and with a victory against Bobby Fischer himself has done a great job on explaining the way Karpov plays. I remember Kramnik when asked how many chessbooks he had read . Kramnik said that he had not read that many books. But he said that he had a book with Karpovs games which he studied in depth.

If you want to understand Karpovs game you cant be without this book.Many people rate books with 5 points without hesitation but this book is a REAL 5 pointer.I have many chessbooks and this one is on the absolute top.It's just fantastic to see Karpov slowly squeeze and finally destroy his helpless opponents.
To me it looks like an anacondas victory over his helpless victims.The opponents often get desperat.

The author annotates with many words.You will get very much from every game.You can use the knowledge you get from this book on your opponents!

SPECIALLY RECOMMENDED

Buy it now !!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent annotated collection of Karpov's games., May 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: How Karpov Wins: Second, Enlarged Edition (Dover Chess) (Paperback)

Mednis' books are usually pretty good, and this is one of his best. The annotations are insightful with regard to Karpov's style of play, and instructive to the intermediate player. Descriptive notation. Typical Dover high quality paperback. Probably one of my top 10 "desert island" books.